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Dip in supply cold the cause?

I came down with a cold 5 days ago . Have the classic signs fever, chills, snotty nose, watery eyes, sore throat, and swollen glands. I just noticed over the last few days my supply is gone down considerably. My dd is 10 weeks old and was nursing 8-10 times a day. Now all she wants to do us nurse. I have had a major problem with overproduction. I was pumping anywhere from 6-10 oz once a day. She just dosent seem satisfied. She has always taken a soothie for help with her acid reflux but now she wants it non stp and is sucking on her hands and smacking her lips a lot. I have been taking 2000 mg of vit. C, 2 large cloves of garlic, 25 mg zinc , 3 tsp. of a glycerin based echinacea tincture, and 1000 mg of ibprofin a day. What could be the cause of my sudden dip?

Re: Dip in supply cold the cause?

A cold could definitely do it. And you're right around the time for another growth spurt. The combination is probably not working in your favor. I'd make sure you're drinking a ton of water during the course of the cold and just keep offering the breast as much as possible. In addition to keeping your supply ok and baby satisfied it will help prevent your LO from getting too sick by passing along any antibodies you're currently building up.

Also, with the fever, it does sound like you're describing a cold but make sure to keep an eye out for mastitis symptoms since they can mimic a lot of your common flu symptoms. Any breast pain? Hope you feel better soon. Take that baby to bed with you and get some rest!

Re: Dip in supply cold the cause?

It sounds like you are really ill, more like the flu than just a cold. Also I agree with pp, make sure it is not a breast infection. In any case, rest!

I am not convinced there is a sudden dip in your supply, what you describe could have many causes. Between 2 and 3 months is a classic time for moms thinking their milk is ‘drying up’ and it is almost always a false alarm.

Your baby may be nursing more because your baby is feeling a bit ill as well, or it's a growth spurt. Or both.

Do you mean you pump 6-10 ounces a day on top of exclusive nursing? Or is the 6-10 what you pump due to separations? if it is the former, couldn't it just be your body is regulating to normal production? Being able to pump that much extra milk a day is , as you say, a sign of overproduction, and it would be typical that around this age, production would regulate to what your baby needs rather than so much more than baby needs.

Or it could be a pump malfunction.

I am not saying getting sick might not impact milk production, but all mammals nurse their young and all mammals get sick. Typical illness alone is unlikely to cause any dangerous or dramatic drop, or if it did, it would be very temporary.

ON the other hand, some medicines that moms take when ill do impact milk production. But not what you mention that I am aware of.

But if you are concerned your milk supply is being adversely impacted, follow babies lead and let baby nurse more.

Re: Dip in supply cold the cause?

I pump that on top of breastfeeding her. My left side produced 7 ounces one day and 2 hrs later was swollen lol !! I had been pumping the extra to give to my mom because She always has supply issues. My boobs don't hurt. No hard knots, red lines, or hot spots either so I think mastitis isn't the problem.

Re: Dip in supply cold the cause?

So you are pumping extra to donate to your mom for her baby? That is really admirable. But please, be careful. One of the not-often talked about aspects of milk donation is that pumping 'extra' sometimes has a negative impact on the what I guess I would call the 'primary' nursing relationship-that between you and your baby. For example, side effects from overproduction (like forceful letdown,) breast damage damage from pumping, ithat kind of thing. Of course many moms donate thier extra pumped milk with no issues.